


the anatomy of a dance

by JollytheSad



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cool Queer Costia, Distressed Lesbian Lexa, F/F, Miserable Bisexual Clarke, Ugh, and why does it take her literal years to realize, why is Lexa always so fast to fall in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-22 12:58:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8286683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JollytheSad/pseuds/JollytheSad
Summary: Clarke and Lexa have known each other for years. Lexa and Costia have dated for months. Lexa is oblivious, Clarke is really bad at feelings, and Costia wins the title of Best Girlfriend in the whole world.





	1. Opening Act

Clarke Griffin rarely dances outside of the club. The club is her scene, with flashing lights and eager eyes, and plenty more bodies performing. It's one of her favourite things, besides drawing and making inappropriate jokes to frustrate Lexa. 

_Lexa_. Quiet, smart and calm. Ever so graceful and just so _pretty_. Lexa dances, too. Ballet makes for strength and flexibility, as well as a busy, busy schedule. She and Costia have been dancing for years. (Clarke knows her schedule by heart now, and sometimes Costia jokingly asks which of them is dating Lexa. Clarke's laugh – which used to be sincere – gets more forced as the years pass.)

Costia is everything that Lexa isn't. Unapologetic, sharp tongue always aiming where it hurts. She towers over both she and Clarke, her eyes twinkling as she laughs and laughs and laughs. She keeps her hair natural, forming a curly halo around her lovely face. She dyes the tips every so often, usually to match Clarke's.

 

Clarke is dancing, accompanied by Costia, while Lexa watches from her spot on the bar. She's sipping something surely non-alcoholic. There's a timid smile to her lips, one that Clarke knows she will dream of. Costia catches her watching. (She always does.) And there's something in her eyes in the moments like this. Clarke doesn't know what exactly. 

(They dance, dance, dance, and there is a little, wishful voice in the back of her mind that says it is _hunger_ in Costia's eyes.)

 

“Dance with me,” she says to Lexa when Costia excuses herself to the bathroom. 

Lexa's eyes first travel to the general direction of the restrooms, then to her drink, and finally to Clarke's flushed face. She takes a breath, to protest probably, but Clarke is faster.

“Please, Lexa?”

“Okay.” That little smile again. 

Clarke takes her hand and leads the way to the dance floor.


	2. Pas de Deux

_pas de deux_ (French) a dance for two

Dancing with Lexa is different from dancing with Costia. With Costia it's playful. Teasing, almost. Wandering hands and big, big grins. With Costia, they kiss sometimes. Chaste and quick, always with a nod of approval from Lexa. 

Dancing with Lexa is... intimate. Familiar. Clarke remembers the time they were fifteen, slow dancing in someone's garden. First time out at a party, feeling rebellious. The music was bad and the alcohol worse. They kissed that night. It was Lexa's first kiss, she confessed years later. 

They stand close. Lexa's hand finds Clarke's, and the blonde laces their fingers. They sway side to side, twice slower than the beat of the song goes. Lexa wraps her arm around Clarke's back, to keep her closer. Clarke rests her forehead on Lexa's collarbone and closes her eyes.

It's not until Lexa twirls her around with a smile on her face that Clarke slips up.

“God, I love you,” she sighs. 

A second. Two. Lexa's stills. 

Clarke's stomach drops to the floor. “Let's go home.” 

Lexa doesn't let go of her hand. 

 

(That must mean something, right?)


	3. Intermezzo

When Costia wakes, Lexa is long since gone. There's only lightly snoring Clarke sprawled across the single beds that she and Lexa pushed together the day they moved in. She can hear noise coming from the kitchen. The clock reads 9:38 am. 

“Morning,” Costia draws as she pads to the kitchen, wrapping her arms around Lexa's middle when she gets to her. She drops a kiss to the back of her neck. 

“Good morning, love.” 

“How was your run?” 

“Wet.” 

She doesn't need to see to know that Lexa is smiling, hears it in the single word. She didn't even notice it was raining until now. 

Lexa turns in her embrace, hands coming up to toy with the straps of her tank top.

“What?” Costia hums, smiling down at her. 

“Nothing.” 

She doesn't meet her eyes.

“Lex.” 

It takes a while, a while in which Lexa seems to fight with herself. Finally, she rolls her eyes as if she's annoyed with herself: “Clarke?” 

Costia's eyebrows shoot up. “Still passed out.” 

“No, I mean...” 

“Yes?” 

“She told me she loved me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> notice how the chapters get progressively shorter. pathetic.


	4. Crisis I

“I know,” Costia says. 

“You know she told me?” Lexa's eyes are big, fearful. 

“I know she loves you.” 

(Here's the thing about Costia. She is observant, and clever like a fox. Lexa forgets sometimes.) 

It takes her moment to comprehend. Find the right words. Look up into warm brown eyes. 

“How long have you...” she pauses, brows furrowing a little to form a crease. 

“I figured it out about half a year ago,” Costia confesses, soft and quiet. As if saying _it's okay_. (She probably means to.)

(This is the moment when Anya would shove her and laugh. “Your girlfriend knows your best friend better than you do. Step up your game kid.”)

“It's okay, Lexa.” 

A hand stroking up and down her back. 

“But - ”

“Lex.” Costia waits until green eyes look up through lashes, until Lexa's gaze meets her own. “I love you. We can talk about this.”

“I need to think about it first,” is the first coherent sentence to come out of Lexa's mouth. 

Her girlfriend, wonderful, understanding girlfriend, nods. “Okay. Take your time. Have you had breakfast yet?”

Lexa shakes her head a no.

“Let me make you something good.”

 

They go check on Clarke when it's past noon and she still doesn't show up in the kitchen. They find an empty, unmade bed, the window open, and Clarke nowhere to be found.


	5. Crisis II

“Clarke isn't answering my calls.”

“Hello to you too, Lexa.”

“It's been a _week_ , Raven. Hi. Can you tell me if she's okay?”

Raven takes a look at her roommate. There's a steaming cup of tea next to her while she works her way through a crossword.

“She's regretting all of her life choices. And she's doing a crossword, currently.”

“A what?”

“Do you want me to spell it out for you?”

“No, thank you.” Lexa pauses. “Can you tell her to talk to me?”

“I sure can.”

“And will you?”

Raven hums vaguely. 

“Please?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Thank you, Raven.”

“You're welcome.”

 

It takes another week for Clarke to actually speak to Lexa. She answers Costia's texts ( _are you okay?_ \- i'm fine. _we can talk when you're ready_ \- okay.), she talks to Raven (do not tell her, but it helps), she even calls her mum. Not to talk about her feelings, of course. It's Sunday when she texts Lexa to meet her at their coffee shop. The one they've been going to since freshmen year of high school. 

The sky is overcast, and Clarke feels a little light-headed. It's okay, she tells herself. It's okay, you just... _love her_. Fuck. 

 

It goes like this: Lexa comes early and Clarke comes late. Clarke talks first. Clarke cries. Lexa holds her hand. Lexa talks. Clarke cries some more. It is a litany of “ _I don't want to ruin this_.” interspersed with “ _You're not ruining anything, Clarke_.”

“I'm sorry.” 

“Clarke.” 

Oh, how different her name sounds on Lexa's lips.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back (daaamn Jolly back at it again)


	6. Intermezzo II

Clarke excuses herself to the bathroom, and Lexa feels uneasy. It's an awful feeling that starts in her throat and goes to her stomach. She tells herself all will be well. (But _what if_...) 

When Clarke comes back, her cheeks are dried of tears and her eyes are significantly less red. She even takes Lexa's hand when Lexa holds it out. 

“Costia wanted us all to talk,” she says, and Clarke nods. 

“Okay. Can it not be today?” 

“Whenever you're ready, Clarke.” 

The girl smiles a small smile. A little uncertain, even. Lexa strokes over her knuckles with her thumb. It is not new, and yet, it is. This feeling that blooms deep in her chest... She feels it, actually lets herself feel it for the first time in forever. And it is heavenly. She compares this feeling to how she feels with Costia. It's not the same, but similar. Light and warm. Safe. 

Lexa takes Clarke's hand to her mouth and kisses her knuckles. 

It feels like a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm going on holidays so i mashed this together to give you at least something ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	7. Pas de Trois

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story ends as their relationship begins.

_pas de trois_ (French) a dance for three

“How did you know?” Clarke asks. She sits on the grass, enjoying the warm September sun. They still haven't had the Talk. 

Costia grins, playing with Clarke's fingers as she answers. “You're really fucking obvious, you know.” 

Clarke gasps in faux horror. “That can't be it! Tell me your ways! Wait, I've got it. You're a psychic.” 

Costia laughs. Her purple lipstick goes with the dyed tips of her wild curls. 

“Did you know I acted in a school play?” Clarke asks out of the blue. Probably something linked with her pretending to be unaffected by Lexa. 

“Do tell.” 

“I was the Cinderella.” 

“Of course!” Costia chuckles. “You've got the looks. Don't know about the skills, though.” 

“Oh, shut up. I was good!” 

“Make me,” Costia teases. 

The mood changes suddenly. 

Clarke squints, watching carefully Costia's expression. “Oh, I will.” 

“Then do.” 

She launches, pushing Costia to her back onto the soft grass, straddling her waist and missing her mouth on the first attempt. They kiss and laugh and Costia _still_ teases her about her acting skills. 

 

It's Tuesday when they talk. All three of them. 

And it is weirdly calm. No more tears running down Clarke's cheeks. So what, she loves Lexa. So what, Lexa loves her back. So what, Lexa loves Costia, and Costia loves them both. So what. 

It rains outside and Lexa has a mug of green tea tightly clasped in her hands. There are candles on every flat surface of their little apartment, hers and Costia's. Clarke is wearing Costia's hoodie, one that goes down nearly to her knees, and baby blue fluffy socks. It feels like they were always going to end up here, like this. As if it was inevitable. 

“So... what do we do now?” Clarke wonders aloud. They've sat down, talked about it, now what? 

“Now we live, my dear,” Costia smiles. 

Lexa nods, solemnly as she does. “Now we live.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i finished this and i still have no idea how i feel about this
> 
> an epilogue may come
> 
> // ive tried to make this complete like 500 times but the ao3 aint cooperating ? i might be doing shit wrong idk i dont write chaptered shit but ugh

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not a professional ballerina or whatever so i'm pulling the chapter names out of my ass, mostly.


End file.
